Red Country

Joe Abercrombie returns with a third and final standalone novel set in a post-First Law universe, telling a story of revenge in a westernized world. After returning home to find their farm burned and a family friend slain, Shy South and her cowardly stepfather Lamb set out on the trail of the group responsible, venturing in the wild frontier known as the Far Country.

The back cover tells us that the past never stays buried, and finding his home burned down and his stepchildren stolen, it's clear in the first chapter that Lamb is already being put aside, and that Logen is coming back, ready for the black work to begin. His story here is a little similar to what we've read before of his exploits in the First Law trilogy, but this time rather than seeing a man trying to change, we see a man who seeming has managed to bury that part of himself, and having to let it loose again to get back what he loves. I think that little twist on things is enough to warrant the retread, and give us a proper sendoff for one of the most charismatic mass-murderers I've seen put on a page.

I think what helps with keeping things a little fresh is that Logen is always a secondary character in this story, and we see things through the eyes of Shy, instead. She has her own demons to deal with on the road, but, we also have to step into her shoes while she reconciles her image of the cowardly Lamb with the violent scenes he produces along the way. The other lead in the story is Temple, lawyer of the famed soldier of fortune, Nicomo Cosca, and he's actually a little strange to me. He goes through some ups and downs through the story, and while things look a little bleak at times, he ends up being one of the most hopeful characters I've seen in this series. The two play off each other pretty well and keep things moving pretty nicely over the course of the story, and bring a few laugh in their scenes together as well.

The cameos in the story, as usual with Abercrombie, are a delight. From the little touches like the oxen named Calder and Scale, to the full fledged cameos from minor characters, helping to tie off events in the 10 years of the story since Best Served Cold. Plus, in typical style, there's a few chapters that throw us around into the perspective of some real minor characters in the midst of some action, and I really love these chapters, there's always just a ton of flavour here.

I don't think this book did anything groundbreaking with the characters, but, I'd be lying if I didn't just enjoy seeing more of Logen in action, particularly towards the climax of the story. I enjoyed it a lot, and I'm looking forward to picking up A Little Hatred next.